ShmoopTube

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Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by the Private Sphere. Basically, the area

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you shouldn't invade unless you know a person pretty darn well.

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Okay, so we've just finished reading a bunch of ginormous passages from 8 different sources,

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and boy are our eyes tired. This free response question wants us to use

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at least THREE of the 8 sources in our essay answer...

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...and it also wants that essay to be coherent and well-written. Sheesh. So demanding.

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All right... we're given this prompt: Read the following sources (including the

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introduction) carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how women were represented

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in both the public sphere and the private sphere.

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So we need to read through the sources, and use the content to develop our position on

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how women are represented in... a couple of sphere thingies.

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Really, we can just ignore the "sphere" part. It wants us to analyze women's roles... in

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the home as well as the working world.

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Now... how do we attack this thing? Slow and stealthy, from the left flank?

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First of all, we need to recognize that our prompt is telling us to analyze, not to argue.

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So... no getting defensive and throwing a hissy fit. This is all about exploring and

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evaluating the 8 different approaches to a single subject... not about trying to convince

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our reader of something. We need to stay professional and unbiased...

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like a television reporter who will lose his job if he's caught editorializing. Can't hurt

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to make sure our hair looks nice either.

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We also know that we need to discuss

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BOTH women in the public sphere, the labor force ...and in the private sphere.

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Some of the sources refer to one or the other... so we know we'll have to pull from a couple

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of each to cover our bases. Sources A, F and H are all pro-public.

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B, C and D... think that women should be home in the kitchen making babies.

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E and G deal with women appearing in public,

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even if they aren't strictly about them joining the work force.

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So... which to choose? So many options... it's like trying to pick out a pair of pumps

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when Diaz W is having a sale. Tough. If you read the passages carefully, you should

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notice that some of them naturally work together. A and C, for example, even though they demonstrate

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stances on each side of the issue, are both from the New Jersey Constitution...

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so they're clearly linked.

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Less obvious -- sources F and H are both about

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women speaking and defending their rights... ...E and G are both about how men view women

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appearing in public... ...and B and D... would probably be appalled

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that today's women no longer wear hoop skirts and corsets.

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In other words... they have some pretty old-fashioned ideas about a woman's role in society...

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The tones and perspective may differ from one to another... but as long as we can draw

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comparisons and make connections, we can compose an essay that is thoughtful, well-researched

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and compelling. Don't forget to start with a thesis.

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We can't know where we're going if we haven't first determined where we're starting from.

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Remember not to insert your own opinion... it might be difficult in cases such as these,

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where there are so many bone-headed, antiquated ideas being bandied about...

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...but hey, it was a different time. And besides, it's our job to analyze the arguments

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of others -- what they did make a good case for, how they structured their arguments,

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et cetera. Include at least one pro-public and one pro-private...

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...and get at the heart of what these writers believed, and why they might have believed

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those things at that time. Before you start a-writin'... or maybe after

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you're done... check out this sample essay to get an idea of what those AP gurus are looking for...

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